The Rural Utilities Service (RUS or the Agency), a Rural Development (RD) Agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is soliciting Letters of Interest (LOI) for loan Applications, announcing the Application process for those loans, and providing deadlines for Applications from eligible entities under the Powering Affordable Reliable Technology (PART) Energy Program. These loan funds will be made to qualified PART Applicants to finance power generation Projects for Renewable Energy Resource (RER) systems or Energy Storage Systems (ESS) that support RER Projects. The PART Program is making approximately $410 million in appropriated budget authority (BA) funding available under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). RUS will process and evaluate complete LOI on a rolling basis in the order they are received.
The PART Program is to be carried out by the RUS pursuant to Section 22001 of the IRA. Section 22001 of the IRA amends Section 9003 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 by adding new subsection (h). Section 22001 of the IRA provides RUS with appropriated funds “for the cost of loans under Section 317 of the RE Act.” Additionally, Section 22001 of the IRA provides that PART funds may be utilized to finance Projects that store electricity generated from eligible energy sources listed under Section 317 of the RE Act. These Project Loans or System Loans will be forgiven up to forty percent (40%), provided the Awardee and the Project otherwise meet the terms and conditions of the loan forgiveness. Approximately $410 million in budget authority is being made available under this Notice. The Administrator reserves the right to increase this funding level should additional funds become available or reduce funding in the event an insufficient number of high-quality projects are submitted for consideration.
Cost Sharing or Matching:
(a) Project Loans. Awards will finance up to 75% of the total capitalized costs of a Project. Awardees will be required to provide at least 25% of the Project’s total capitalized cost in the form of cash or equity investments, which may not be derived from debt instruments. However, the Agency may utilize its authority under Section 306F of the RE Act and finance up to 100% of the costs of the Projects benefiting SUTA areas.
(b) System Loans. PART System Loans may cover up to 100% of the total costs of the Project.